Ambivalence
by SpritelyGryffindor
Summary: First everyone said he was a genius, then they said he was insane. Bruce is back now, and everyone admits he was right all along. Tim doesn't care what anyone thinks, he trusts himself...At least, he thought he did. Now he's not so sure.


It was raining, and cold. Not a good combination, especially for Dick, who was not only wearing his summer costume because the winter ones were being repaired, but was also coming down with a cold. We would have called it a night, or at least found some shelter from the rain, but it was a busy night.

Batman was working in the shopping district near the center of town where there was a hostage situation. Dick had offered to send me or Damian to help, but he told us to stay on mission.

I sighed. Our mission was a pain in the butt to be frank. We had to track down Scarecrow and so far, he was proving to be pretty illusive. We've been searching for him for only an hour and we were all shivering like we'd been out here all night, irredeemably soaked with the November air chilling us to the bone. Sure Damian and I had waterproof capes, but they couldn't protect us from the downpour when we were swinging from roof to roof.

_Alfred will not be happy. _I thought, mentally bracing myself for the amount of fuss we would likely go through when we got home.

My mind drifted back to Scarecrow. The police informed us that he'd been talking in his sleep about a stash of fear gas he had hidden away. It could be nothing but a simple delusion, but if he really had spare chemical weapons in supply then we needed to find him as quickly as possible.

Damian was currently 'asking' a would-be-mugger we'd stumbled upon for some information. The guy spoke as best as he could through a broken jaw. He'd apparently seen Scarecrow in the area. Dick pried Damian off of the guy and motioned for me to follow them onto the roof above.

"We need to split up," he told Damian and I as he ran a hand through his hair. He was wearing his Nightwing costume, as Bruce had taken over as Batman after he came back from being lost in time.

"If either of you find him, call it in and wait for back up. Do _not _engage, understand?"

"Yes," Damian said as I nodded.

"Good, now Tim, I want you to look through the Warehouses to the North, I'll take the storage lockers over to the North-East, Damian, you take the abandoned apartment complexes to the West."

Damian scoffed. It was no secret to any of us that Scarecrow was much more likely to be in an empty storage facility or warehouse than an old broken down apartment complex.

"Why do _I_ get the soft-job, surely such a mission would be better suited to _Drake._" He sneered.

"You have your orders, move out," said Dick firmly, and he shot off his grapple and zoomed away, leaving no room for argument.

I was making short work of looking through the Warehouses. Quick scans of a few showed no basements in most of them and the upper levels had mostly homeless people living in them. I had to stop a couple assaults and muggings along the way, and I used these incidents as opportunities to question the local criminals on Scarecrow's location. I came up dry each time though.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, as I walked away from a guy I had tied to a lamppost and left for the police. I was feeling really sluggish. Not sick, like Dick surely was, just tired. Things had been pretty crazy since Bruce had returned. We were all ecstatic, especially me. I remember catching him up on everything that had happened when he was gone. He had been so proud that I had figured out what had happened to him before anyone else…

I frowned as I remembered how he had reacted when I told him about Dick thinking I was crazy. He had understood where Dick was coming from which honestly it the _last_ thing I wanted to hear. I mean honestly, what was that supposed to mean? What about that made sense? The fact that someone under the pressure that I was under is likely to crack or did he just think that _I _was likely to crack?

I shook off my discontent.

_Scarecrow is on the loose, now is not the time to wallow in insecurity, _I told myself. _Do something useful, check in with the others._

I had just raised a hand to my earpiece to check in with Dick and Damian when Damian's voice sounded over the speaker.

_ "I've found him. He is at the apartment complex on the corner of Philips Street."_

_ "Okay, hang tight Damian, we'll be right there, in the mean time tell us what you're seeing," _said Dick.

I took my grapple and shot it at a nearby rooftop. I swung gracefully through the neighborhood, the night air whipping my hair, the streetlights shining through the dark revealing cracked sidewalks and clogged storm drains. That wasn't really what I was seeing though. I was seeing the fourth floor of the apartment Damian was describing.

"_They're on the forth floor, on the side of the building facing the alley way. I am on the fire escape across from where they are,"_ Damian described and I could just _see _what he was talking about in my mind's eye.

_"Are you well hidden?"_ Dick asked in concern.

It was a stupid question, given Damian's skill level, normally Dick wouldn't even have asked.

_Dick must be feeling sicker than he's letting on. _I thought to myself. _He's not usually overprotective unless there's something wrong._ This thought worried me. I didn't like the idea of Dick fighting Scarecrow when he was off his game. I knew better than to say anything though, if it were just me and Dick he would have let me take the lead, but since Damian was here…I sighed. If I commented on Dick's health in front of Damian the kid would not only mark Dick off as a weakling, but insist that _he _take the lead, which was _not_ a good idea.

_"I'm not an amateur, Nightwing," _Damian hissed over the radio and I rolled my eyes.

Dick just responded with a good natured chuckle, but he wheezed slightly halfway through a laugh. I heard a sudden shuffle followed by silence and realized that Dick must have switched off his radio's capability to transmit sounds on his end.

_Probably having a coughing fit._ I thought worriedly.

_"Nightwing? Nightwing?" _asked Damian through the radio.

_Shut up Damian. _I thought, annoyed. The kid apparently still hadn't noticed Dick was sick. I didn't exactly blame Damian, Dick was good at hiding it, but it was still frustrating.

_"Nightwing I—Oh, I've been spotted. I must engage now."_

There was a click and Dick spoke over the radio, clearly out of breath he forced his words out with difficulty.

_"N—No D-Dam—ian r-retreat!"_

_ "Sorry, but that is no longer an option" _Damian said over the radio, not sounding sorry in the slightest. There were several gunshots in the background and Damian swore loudly.

_"T-T-Tim!" _Dick said anxiously, still struggling to catch his breath.

_"I'm almost there!" _I assured him as I took the next few rooftops at a full sprint.

I broke into the apartment to find Damian fighting five of Scarecrown goons. Two more were lying on the floor unconscious and Scarecrow was nowhere to be found, which was _never_ a good sign. I leapt at a thug and took him down in seconds.

_How did he acquire a posse already? He's only been out of Arkham for a few hours! Chemicals and henchmen all ready to go? He must have been planning this from inside Arkham…he must have an inside source. _I thought as I pried a gun from a man twice my size. Damian and I had taken out three more of the men by the time Dick arrived.

The guy looked a mess. He was pale and his lips were slightly blue from the chill outside. He moved into the apartment with grace however, controlling his movements so as not to betray his illness.

"You alright?" he asked the pair of us as he calmly took out another guy.

Damian and I nodded, though I noticed (and I'm sure Dick did too) that Damian's arm was bleeding. Judging by his movements though, it was a minor flesh wound.

"Alright, let's fine Scarecrow," ordered Dick.

"Can I take point?" I asked, hoping to spare Dick some strain.

"You? Please, if anyone should take point it should be me," scoffed Damian.

"I'll take point," said Dick irritably, moving towards the stairwell, clearly not in the mood for any bickering.

I rolled my eyes behind my mask.

_You moron Damian. _I thought to myself.

"Tim, you watch our six," he said shooting me a reassuring look. Clearly he knew the reason behind my offer to take the lead.

The pair entered the stairwell and mayhem broke out.


End file.
